


coral.

by idwimor



Category: VIXX
Genre: Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 16:09:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14596710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idwimor/pseuds/idwimor
Summary: taekwoon's changed his fate, but is it really paranoia when your life is at risk?





	coral.

**Author's Note:**

> so heres a warning! and also a spoiler. this fic has a pretty graphic description of an individual drowning to death, plus paranoia and anxiety. please don't read it if you can't handle it!

The wind was like a balm to his skin, cool and revitalizing compared to how stifling and uncomfortable the house was. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stood out on the porch, his eyes following the horizon, sea stretching as far as the eye could see. If he squinted, he could have made out a small boat making its steady approach to the shoreline, and the dock that was in walking distance of his house. It was a wonder, how much he hated being in his own home. Maybe it was because of how silent and lonely it was; or maybe it was his own attraction to the beach, and the soft sand, warm under the sunlight.  
He didn’t really comprehend what he was doing until it was already done; the door gently shut behind him as he silently padded down the wooden steps down to his own little expanse of beach, a benefit of his own personal connections.

  
The water licked at his toes as he stood at the border between one world and the other, and he sighed gently, the wet sand giving under his feet as he waded deeper and deeper into the water, until it was swaying at his chest, soaking his clothes and cooling him more than the wind had moments prior.

  
He came back to himself as his lips fell under the water, and he let out a long exhale through his nose, letting the water engulf him for a few seconds before rising and backing up slowly. The water didn't quite feel as cool anymore, and he forced himself to return to the safe shoreline before he did something he would regret.   
“Not today,” he murmured under his breath, turning and returning home. He would rather be uncomfortable than dead. He found trouble falling asleep that night, for the first time in a long while.

  
-

  
The next day comes to be even more silent than the last, and the man decides it’d be best if he had some human interaction for once in his life.

The town was as busy as a small, seaside town could be, with plenty of people peacefully walking and enjoying the cool breeze. It had been a very hot few months, and everyone was basking in the reprieve. He crossed his arms over his chest and headed toward the bakery, following the scent of sugar and chocolate that filled his nose and warmed him from the inside out.

  
“Taekwoon, good morning.” The baker greeted him at the counter, brushing the flour from his hands. “Would you like your usual?”

  
He smiled a bit, and nodded his head. “Yes, please. Thank you, Wonshik.”  
“I heard there were some unusual sightings near your end of the beach. Pretty big fish, they say. be careful, alright? We all know how far out you go sometimes. We don’t need the fishermen bringing you back to shore again.”

  
Taekwoon ducked his head, his face running a bit hot with embarrassment. His eyes found their way around the quaint bakery, looking out the large store window at the street. “I appreciate your concern. I’ll be careful, I promise. Have you heard any word of Sanghyuk?”

  
He could see the man stiffen a bit- everyone in the town knew Sanghyuk, and it had been months since anyone had seen him last. If anyone were to hear anything about him, it would be Wonshik, first and foremost. The baker immediately came to his wits and continued doing his job, removing a small golden-brown pastry from a corner of the display; he always had one made for Taekwoon, whether he came to town or not. “No, I’m sorry. Nothing’s been mentioned of him for weeks, now.”

  
It took a moment for his brain to catch up with his hands, for the next time he really focused he had already paid for the pastry- pain au chocolat, if he could remember what Wonshik had told him correctly. In usual fashion, it was flaky and warm, pleasant to the tongue, and the dark chocolate in the center was as bittersweet as he remembers it being. Bittersweet. Taekwoon almost laughed at how much that one word described his entire life.

  
He enjoyed the weather, as any sane individual would, strolling down to the pier and taking a seat along one of the edges, staring out at the water. The sea was relatively calm, gently rocking side to side in a slow, soothing fashion, almost like it was breathing. A spot of a foreign color made him go still, peeking and just barely visible through the surface of the water, never breaking it. It moved, and Taekwoon made a nonchalant effort to stand, turning his back on the shimmer of pale pink. Adrenaline rushed through his system, and with not one single look back, Taekwoon was sprinting, not slowing down at all until he was behind the door of his home.

  
He didn’t look out at the water again that day, and resisted its pull.

  
-

  
_He couldn’t breathe. Strong, unrelenting hands gripped at his limbs, keeping him just under the surface of the water. His lungs and throat were screaming at him to breathe, to inhale, but he knew he couldn’t. The hands moved from his legs and arms to his throat, and his free hands uselessly scratched at them, trying desperately to get away. He opened his eyes, and pure fear had him gasping for breath, and he could acutely feel the water slipping into his lungs_ -

  
Taekwoon woke, covered in his own cold sweat. He couldn’t get out of his bed quickly enough, resting his weight against the wall and trying to calm his stampeding heartbeat with calm breaths. Frightened eyes took in the room around him. Dry- save for the sweat rolling off of him like a flood- and safe. He didn’t realize he was shaking until he glanced at his own form, quivering like a tropic cat in a tundra. Tears made warm trails down his cheeks as he tied to recover from the dream for the third time that week. It felt like they were getting even more frequent, pulling and stretching his mind until he couldn’t stand it anymore. Just like the water.

  
With his ever so trembling limbs, the man slowly pulled himself from the floor, gripping white-knuckled onto his desk chair for support. It took an otherworldly effort to turn the chair, falling into it and covering his face in his hands. The chair creaked with Taekwoon’s sobs- sobs that shook his entire form and tore him into nothing. The darkness outside of his windows did nothing to soothe him.

  
It was morning when he even felt a fraction alright.

  
His neck was stiff with how awkwardly he had rested on it, and his torso felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds as he lifted himself once again onto wobbly legs and found his way into his bathroom. The frigid water from the tap made harsh goosebumps roll onto his skin, and it was harsh in a way that suited his thoughts. Dreaming about his own death.

  
For the second time, Taekwoon’s face found its way into his hands, and for the millionth time since he arrived, he felt empty.

  
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice, unique and terrifying in its own right. Whether it was in his mind, or calling out to him, he couldn’t tell, but the tone made his body tense, and his eyes squeeze shut in fear. “Leave me alone… I changed you… you shouldn’t remember! Go away!"

Taekwoon’s palms pressed over his ears, trying with all of his might to blot out the song. The wall was cold against his bare back as he slid to the floor, chest heaving with his terror.

  
-

  
That night, he went outside. It was cold, not unlike any other night in the town, but it felt peculiar. Eerie in a way that just didn’t fit for some unknown reason. Or maybe it was just Taekwoon imprinting his own paranoia and anxiety onto the weather, which was likely.

  
“Glad you could finally come out and see me, you _coward_.”

  
The voice, oh so familiar, made him freeze still. The same voice haunting him for months on end. He couldn’t bring himself to look at the shore.

  
“How bad will it look to everyone when you’re found dead? And I finally make my return- oh wait, I can’t. Look at me."

  
Taekwoon refused.

  
“ _Look at me, Taekwoon!_ ”

  
“No! No, no no. No. I refuse. I can’t. Please just leave me alone.”

  
Tears were beginning to roll down his cheeks, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. He was trembling down to his very core. Facing his own death, now. He supposed, in his terror, that it had been just a long time coming. As soon as he made any sort of movement toward the house, Sanghyuk began to hum.

  
He knew from experience how hard it was to resist a siren’s call. Sanghyuk, resting in the shallows, scales shimmering almost white on the surface of the water. If it was any other time, Taekwoon would have tried to appreciate them, and their odd coral tone, but this was life and death, and he had too much at stake.

  
“Will,” he swallowed down the knot in his throat, hands balling into fists with the will it took not to move, “it somehow make existing like that any better? Sirens can’t coexist. They can’t even touch each other. They’re.. meant to be lonely.”

  
The human finally decided to make eye contact.

  
“After living with yourself for so long like that, all you’ll crave is to be human again. You’ll just carry on the cycle.”

  
“Then I’ll carry on the cycle in your absence.”

  
The siren began to sing now, loud and clear, and Taekwoon’s resolve shattered. Bare feet added against wood, and then sand, stopping at the very edge of the shoreline. The very tips of his toes were just barely touching the water.

  
“Oh, for _fuck’s sake._ ”

  
He couldn’t react in enough time before Sanghyuk had grabbed him by one of his ankles, almost effortlessly pulling him into the water more. It hurt, having claws like that dig into his skin, but he hardly focused on that with the way he kicked and yelled, trying to hold onto the sand for some sort of purchase but having none. It was horrible, seeing his blood staining the boy’s fingers red, and it was with a last inhale of air he was pulled under.

Sanghyuk had gone far enough.

  
Taekwoon was desperate, kicking and tugging for air, but the siren’s grip was steel, and the toothy smile on his face was horrible and sharp. His lungs burned after a while- all that movement burned the little oxygen he had left, and soon after that he was shaking, gasping for air but taking in only water.  
Sanghyuk only helped him along once it was too late to go back, placing his hands around his neck and squeezing, watching what little life Taekeoon had left slip from his eyes, and the human’s grip on his wrists going slack. His work was considered finished.

  
-

  
They would find the body, but only long after his death. His private area of the beach was rarely checked, since he was known to disappear for days. Sanghyuk was long gone, though, only leaving a single hint to his existence, found carved into Taekwoon’s flesh post-mortem. His initials, cut into his face. His pretty, dead little face. Maybe in some other life they could have met. Maybe even fucked, but it was far too late, and Sanghyuk had already begun his descent into abandon.

**Author's Note:**

> OOOHHH my god. this is the longest thing i've ever written. and the spookiest, i think. i have a thing for writing sirens, too. first hongbin and then hyuk? scary.  
> kudos and comments are seriously appreciated please tell me i dont suck. this is hella unedited  
> (im on twitter @munabana )


End file.
